Characters in The Innocent Mistress

 Characters:

  • Sir Charles Beauclair: Younger brother with no estate; in an unhappy marriage to Lady Beauclair and longs to be with Bellinda instead

  • Lady Beauclair: Wealthy, older, "ill-bred" widow that was previously married to Mr. Flywife, but has been remarried to Sir Charles; mother to Peggy 

  • Peggy Beauclair: "Ill-bred" daughter of Lady Beauclair; being pursued by Mr. Spendall so that he can obtain her fortune

  • Mrs. Beauclair: Clever, older sister to Sir Charles; has a love affair with Sir Francis Wildhorn

  • Sir Francis Wildhorn: Has a love affair with Mrs. Beauclair

  • Bellinda: Hides her real identity (Marianne) and goes by "Bellinda" instead after escaping a forced marriage and stays with Sir Charles' niece, Mrs. Beauclair; longs to be with Sir Charles

  • Mr. Flywife: Rich merchant and previous husband to Lady Beauclair; flees to Jamaica but then returns to London after death of Bellinda's brother and wishes to be with Lady Beauclair after she learns he is still alive, but cannot since she is now married to Sir Charles

  • Ms. Flywife: Mistress to Mr. Flywife while he is in Jamaica; is left without a marriage because Mr. Flywife does not wish to marry again after Lady Beauclair

  • Beaumont: Pursues Arabella and wants to marry her

  • Arabella: Sister to Cheatall; wishes to get away from Cheatall and Lady Beauclair's control; wishes to marry Beaumont

  • Cheatall: Brother to Arabella; tries to control her along with Lady Beauclair

  • Eugenia: Servant to Lady Beauclair; marries Gentil; liberates Arabella to marry Beaumont against her family's wishes

  • Gentil: Servant to Lady Beauclair; marries Eugenia

  • Mr. Spendall: "Social parasite" who is determined to marry Peggy solely for her fortune

Significance/Importance/Purpose of Characters:
    The Characters in Mary Pix's The Innocent Mistress began straying from the typically norm of theatre at the time. Where most pieces often wrote only a few minor roles for women (that often times were played by younger boys, anyway), Mary Pix was able to create multiple, well written and prominent roles for women to actually play on stage. While Mary Pix kept some of the classic elements of Restoration comedy -- such as the strong satire towards the pretentious upper class -- and kept some classic tropes from Restoration comedies such as the "happy couple" (Sir Charles and Bellinda) and the "breeches" role (Mrs. Beauclair) as well, she was also able to have more prominent, rule-breaking heroines hold more significant roles in her work. Many female characters, such as Arabella and Eugenia, were able to show defiance while successfully challenging the men around them, going against the typical, long-standing norm of theatre during this time. Female characters in this show -- as well as other works by Mary Pix --  held more of an importance than ever before. Unlike other shows, the intelligence and witty-ness of women in The Innocent Mistress was written in a way that highlighted it to a much stronger degree, rather than having their only purpose/significance be to please men with their beauty and/or sexual attraction (though, that did also take place in this show). Male characters, such as Sir Charles and Mr. Flywife, were written in a way that recognized their flaws but -- unlike other playwrights -- Pix gave her female characters a way to challenge and reform this, which had not been done much in other pieces of theatre before/during the Restoration.

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